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Pacifier??...

I have been going back and forth on whether I want to use a pacifier... My baby is only 11 days old, but yesterday I gave it to him when he was being fussy and calmed down almost immediately and fell asleep. My concern is that I won't know when he is hungry... I would let him comfort nurse, but I ha e had so much milk that he still gets milk when he's just suckling and ends up spitting up all the extra. I noticed last night and this morning that my milk supply seems better and he is able to handle my let down better... So I just don't know what to do... He really loves to suck! Oh, and he also roots when he has gas as well as when he's hungry, so that sometimes leads to the same thing...

Re: Pacifier??...

I would limit the pacifier to really fussy times when baby is refusing the breast or special times like car rides. Babies this young like to nurse A LOT. Always offer to nurse first. You don't want baby to skip meals.

Re: Pacifier??...

We have used a pacifier since pretty early on, but have always limited it to falling asleep and very fussy times. We've found that if DD was hungry she would actually get mad at the pacifier (like, "Hey, who do you think you're fooling with this thing?!"). But that might just be us. I know lots of people are not for it. Our DD was such a twitchy and jumpy sleeper, it helped calm her enough to fall asleep, especially since she doesn't always like to nurse to sleep (especially after about month 3). We also didn't have any nipple confusion issues.

Mom to my sweet little "Pooper," born 10/12/11, and "Baby Brother," born 6/23/2014, and married to heavy metal husband. Working more than full-time, making healthy vegetarian meals for family, and trying to keep up with exercise routine.

Re: Pacifier??...

Originally Posted by @llli*zaynethepain

I would limit the pacifier to really fussy times when baby is refusing the breast or special times like car rides. Babies this young like to nurse A LOT. Always offer to nurse first. You don't want baby to skip meals.

Because of the danger that baby will get his sucking needs met on the paci rather than on the breast, it's generally recommended that parents delay introducing the paci until at least 3-4 weeks.

Re: Pacifier??...

I would offer to nurse first then if nothing calms your baby down then offer the pacifier.
When my daughter was 5 weeks old I offered her the pacifier after I attempted to nurse her because she was going through these fussy fits towards the evening time. Of course I
bawled to my husband because I didn't want her to get attached to the pacifier and let that be a habit I have to break.
Come to find out she was getting ready for her growth spurt instead of hitting the spurt right at 6 weeks she hit it earlier.